The Sightseeing Bus

That's the Gothic ceiling of the stunning Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey, above. It's one of the places we visited yesterday, on a day devoted to London tourism.

I met up with my brother's family in the late morning and we bought tickets for one of those open-top tour buses that roll around the city, taking in all the main sights. Dave and I have found that these buses are a great way to get the lay of the land and at least a glimpse of all the major sights, and then you've got some information to decide what you'd like to revisit. We recommend them to all our visitors.

Our tour began uneventfully. We picked up the bus in Holborn and went eastward, along Ludgate Hill and past St. Paul's. I was amused by this couple sitting in front of me, the man with his "Quality Milk Producers" fleece and the woman with her cow headscarf. I detect a theme.

Then, as we approached London Bridge, crazy weather! Everyone fled the top deck of the bus, including my brother and his family. Only I and the woman with the cow scarf stayed put, and I at least had an umbrella. She must have been soaked. I didn't do too badly -- my seat stayed dry because I was in it and my umbrella sheltered most of my body.

We rode the bus over the Tower Bridge and past the Tower of London, and thought we might get off there, but it didn't stop. Only then did we realize we have to hit the "stop" button, just like on a city bus, so we got off at Embankment instead and ate at a pub near the Temple.

Then we caught the bus again and took it to Westminster, where we checked out Big Ben and went into the Abbey.

I've been to Westminster Abbey several times before, but every time I go I'm astonished. The graves of Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots! Of Edward the Confessor and multiple medieval kings! Chaucer is there, in Poet's Corner, along with graves and monuments to many other famous writers. It really is a mind-blowing place.

The figure above is Joan, one of the 12 children of Edward III originally depicted on the side of his tomb. (Only six of them are still there.) He died in 1377. Amazing.

From there we walked across Westminster Bridge to the London Eye. The line wasn't too long and although my brother wasn't crazy about the idea (he doesn't enjoy heights), my niece really wanted to ride it. So we bought tickets and took a spin.

I noticed the LGBTQ+ Pride flag on the white building at lower left in the image above. We've seen Pride flags in lots of places, I assume because this is Pride month. I'm happy to live in a country where such things are still celebrated.

Remarkable views, as always! I think my niece was pleased.

From there, my brother's family took the tour bus back toward their hotel and I caught the tube home. There was another tube strike yesterday but it didn't affect us much, fortunately -- the line I needed to get home was still running. (This was a very strange strike, with some lines open and some shut down, apparently depending on which union represents the workers.)

Today is our visitors' last full day in London, and they're going to spend it at our place in West Hampstead. Home sweet home!